EXCLUSIVE: London Imam Forced To Resign After Being THREATENED Outside Mosque For Joining Counter-Extremism Group

The newest member of the reformist, counter extremism Muslim pressure group ‘Quilliam’ has been forced to resign from his position at Palmers Green Mosque in London, after “physical threats” were made against him outside the building.

A Quilliam source has confirmed to Breitbart London that the threats were part of a “coordinated campaign” against the liberal Muslim. The source said the organisation has “screen shots” of online messages that were circulated, alleging that there may be proof the threats were organised.

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Due 2 physical threats (outside the mosque)I have decided 2 resign.Despite requests 2 stay. I'd like to thank @mceclondon for their support.

Dr. Al-Ansari is the former imam of London Central Mosque, who has also worked as a lecturer in Islamic studies at Heythrop College, University of London. It was announced that he had joined Quilliam as a researcher in their Theology and Outreach team just days ago.

However, the popular imam faced an immediate and ferocious backlash from conservative and Islamist Muslims on social media for engaging with the think tank, which advises the government on radicalisation and counter terrorism. He announced on Twitter last night: “Due 2 physical threats (outside the mosque)I have decided 2 resign.Despite requests 2 stay.”

“Do you have no shame? Why have you joined @QuilliamF, UK’s most hated Muslim organization”? responded one UK-based Islamist to Dr. Al-Ansari’s tweet above.

“Was this the exact moment you sold your soul & decided to join @QuilliamF, Sheikh? Have you no shame?” he added, alongside a photo-shopped image of the Imam surrounded by money.

He described other members of the foundation as “sellouts” for working against radicalisation and terrorism. Quilliam members have frequently been accused of apostasy a being “uncle Toms” – a racial epithet hurled at integrated people of an ethnic background.

Adam Deen, the foundation’s other recent recruit, has also been subjected to a campaign of harassment and allegedly threatened: “Receiving support in private but fearful of doing it public [sic] due to bullying by dominate [sic] Puritan & Islamist voices”, he recently wrote on Facebook.

The foundation’s director, Maajid Nawaz (a Liberal Democrat), has been labeled “far right” and long made the subject of a campaign of harassment and slurs merely because of his work tackling extremists and their allies in what he has labelled the “regressive left”.

The National Union of Students (NUS) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) have both taken to routinely attacking the organisation, saying they have no right to talk about Islam and claiming their work somehow “victimises” Muslims.